Rory's Fear
by thisdayandage
Summary: "Maybe you're not scared of anything?" The Doctor said to Rory. A Rory-centric, one-shot. Borrowing dialogue from 'The Doctor's Wife' and 'The God Complex'. Based on a Tumblr photo-set, I put together, a year ago. Initially, this was supposed to be funny, but turns out its more of a character study, I guess.


**Rory's Fear**

"_Corridors, I have corridors – so much to learn about me new home_," House mused. "_But, you haven't answered my question, children_."

The Ponds stood together, next to the powered down TARDIS consol. The room was bathed in green emergency light. In surprise, they had they had parted their embrace, stepping back slightly.  
With both their sets of eyes darting about, they scanned for the source of what was addressing them. However, the entity was nowhere. But it was also everywhere, all around them. They were surrounded. Hearts hammering away in fear, they looked to each other, eyes begging for the other to say something helpful.

"Uh, ..question?" Rory spluttered.

"You remember, 'tell me both, why I shouldn't just kill you right now?'"

"Well, because," Amy began. Having nothing, she signalled to her husband. "Rory, why?"

"Because," he swallowed. After puffing air out of his cheeks, he said, "Killing us quickly wouldn't be any fun."  
Nodding towards his wife, he sought any kind of assistance or nod they he was going in the right direction. Amy just stared at him, like she could not believe the words coming out of his mouth.  
"And you need fun, don't you?" Rory continued, with a clap of his hands.  
Realising that he was well and truly on his own, in this one, he decided to just leap in there and go for it. The Doctor did this all the time – making things up as he went along. How hard could it be? The Doctor was not here and his wife was scared. He would try his best. Swinging his arms, in a nervous attempt to show he was actually going in any kind of direction, he strived on.  
"That's what Aunty and Uncle were for, wasn't it - someone to make suffer?" As this realization dawned on him, another point came to mind; "I had a P.E. teacher just like you."

In Rory's odd way, he was beginning to make Amy feel more secure, like he had a plan. However, she could sense he was beginning to get a bit carried away. He was beginning to grow louder, appear a bit cocky and was wagging his finger to the thin air he spoke to. He was probably also getting a bit side-tracked. She knew he had not particularly enjoyed that one subject at school, but now was not the time to get into exactly as to why. She nudged him.

Immediately picking up on his wife's gesture, Rory honed in on his point. "You need to be entertained," he announced. But worry gripped him and words were escaping him once more. "And killing us quickly wouldn't be entertain..m-ment." His voice shook on that last word.

"_So, entertain me. Run._"

* * *

"I've worked out where we are" said Howie

"Huh," replied Rory, walking next to him. Wandering at the back of the odd group of people, as they made sure nothing came up behind them.

"Norway," Howie exclaimed, as if it were obvious.

"Norway?" Rory echoed. Confused, but intrigued, he leant in to listen to the spectacled blogger.

"See, the U.S. government has entire cities hidden in the Norwegian mountains." Rory merely blinked at this statement, leaving Howie to continue. "See, Earth is on a collision course with this other planet. And this is where they're gonna send all the rich people, when it kicks off."

"Amazing," speculated Rory, no longer looking at Howie.

"Well, it's all there on the internet." Howie provided, looking around, as if there would be a computer with internet access, right there in the hallway of the make-shift 1980's hotel.

"No, it's amazing you've come up with a theory, even more insane than what's actually happening" Rory elaborated. Sighing, he walked on ahead.

A door opened, in front of The Doctor. A large bloke of a man, with a receding hairline stepped out. The whistle around his neck, bounced against a middle aged spread, covered by a white T-shirt, tucked into his matching shorts. Both men looked surprised to see one another standing in the hallway. With the door to hotel room '158' left open, quite a commotion was bustling from within it and a shrill bell rang out.

"Hello," greeted The Doctor, over the noise, as the man loomed over him.

Frowning, the man growled, "Have you forgotten your P.E. kit, again?"  
Amy, Rita and Gibbis, who was pushing the catatonic Joe in the chair, attached to a dolly, had all been walking up at the front of the group. They stopped and turned around, to see what was going on. Rory and Howie were somewhere behind the Doctor, as he stood lost for words. Nobody said anything as the man looked the Time Lord up and down, forehead creasing more by the second.  
"Right, that's it," the man yelled, thrusting a thumb back towards the room. "You're doing it in your pants!" he shouted, stomping back away and slamming the door shut behind him.

Everyone was met with stunned silence. Nervously, The Doctor turned to look behind him. Lost deep in thought, Rory was looking down, not saying anything. Ignoring his companion's demeanour, The Doctor looked past his companion, focusing instead on the blogger. Howie was gazing towards a room, a small way back down the corridor and reaching out to open it.

"HEY! DON'-" The Doctor was bellowing and rushing forward, but the door had already clicked open. A bright light washed over Howie. Girls' chattering laughter echoed down the corridor, as they squealed out taunts, with false stammers.

"Oh, look girls, it's H- H- H- Howie!"

"What's loser in Kl- Kl- Kl- Klingon?!"

Only barely, was Howie able to stutter out for someone to get the door. Obligingly, The Doctor closed it, as quick as he could. Sheepishly, the Time Lord looked about the company, fumbling with his hands. Everybody stared at Howie, in silence.

"This is just some.. m- m- messed-up ..C.I.A. stuff!" Howie justified. " I- I'm telling you!"

Sensing a panic coming on, The Doctor went forward, wrapping an arm around Howie. "You're right. Keep telling yourself that. It's a C.I.A. thing" He lead Howie away from the room. "Nothing more," he stated, clapping the blogger on the chest, reassuringly.

Through identical corridors and carbon copy staircases, the party walked on. Rory dragged behind, his mind wandering.

Rory never exactly breezed through his school days, but he kept his head down and worked hard. Determined to become a nurse and care for those in need, he was never the most popular guy in class. Weedy framed, he was not particularly athletic, or well-built, like some of the other guys, such as Jeff Angelo. Level-headed as he was, any misery he ever got from students, he usually brushed aside. Though some days, it would get him down and he would 'forget' his gear for P.E. class, opting to study instead.  
He certainly did not feel weak any more. He had proven himself and grown since then. Back then though, most teachers supported him in his ambition of becoming a nurse and respected him for his good behaviour and work ethic. Mr Shunpike however, was a different matter. He would blatantly ignore any flack his students gave Rory and in fact, dished out some of his own.

In front, The Doctor was testing walls and flicking lamps, trying some way to distinguish one corridor from another. But it was Rory, lagging behind, who actually noticed something different. He had knelt down to tie his shoelace, when he saw it. A door, different from all the others, was right in front of him. Like the other doors in the fake 80's hotel, it was a pale yellow colour. But it did not have a number plaque nailed to it. Instead, it read; 'FIRE EXIT', with 'PUSH BAR TO OPEN' printed below.

"Uh," Rory murmured, in astonishment. "Guys?"

But the others already had their interest captured. An archway in the ceiling had signs of scuffing, possibly caused by a struggle, but likely something sharp scraping at it. The paint had been worn away and The Doctor stroked his finger along it, to feel that some of the wood had as well.  
Amy had bent down, beside The Doctor, where some notes lay.

"Look," she said, showing them to The Doctor. Before he could look at them properly though, an almighty roar caught everybody off guard. It sent Joe into frenzy, but he was still tied up and gagged.  
"Okay, whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?"

"No. No, I'm sure it isn't, but just in case, let's run away and hide anyway," spoke The Doctor. "In.. here!" He guided Gribbis and Amy towards a room. Rita was carting Joe away into another room, with the dolly.

"No, this way!" Rory tried to tell them, but they were in too much of a hurry to hear him. "I found a.." When he glanced back at the door, it was no longer a fire exit, but an ordinary hotel room door, labelled '219'. That was strange. Was the hotel trying to tell him something?

That exit had looked familiar. Yes, most fire exits looked alike, but this one just gave him a sort of a feeling. It was this feeling that had held him back, from being too outspoken about what he had seen. There was something not right about it.  
He thought about buildings that had heavy duty fire exits like that. When pulling the bar, it usually would trigger a fire alarm. He remembered the kids at school setting it off all the time. He had done it once, by accident.  
He just wanted to leave the school gym. He had had quite enough of Mr Shunpike's harassment, forcing him to do endless push ups, saying that he had sticks for arms, or something along those lines. He needed some air and had run over to the nearest door, to escape for a bit. However, it just drew attention to him and brought him to irritating bell rang out and would not stop, signalling for everyone to evacuate the building.

Why, why was he being made to deal with an insignificant matter from his youth? 'The rooms have things in them', Rita had said. 'Everyone has a room, even you, Doctor,' Joe had told them. That meant Rory had a room too. What thing would be in his room? In Joe's, it had been those dummies. In Howie's it had been the girls. Both men were left petrified. This hotel, this entire complex was playing on their fears. But what was he afraid of?  
Rory was not afraid of that teacher. Maybe, once he had been. School was a trying time for a lot of young people. He was a late developer as it was, so never got the chance to win the girls over with displays of his physical strength, like Jeff. Not that he cared. There had always been only one girl for him. He always knew, even if he had to wait a very long time; that he would win Amelia Pond over with his kind, caring personality.  
Since he was a child, he had an affinity to take this girl, with no parents under his wing and look after her. It did not exactly help that she had mostly been bigger, bolder and always taking charge in everything they did together, but then again, that was what he loved about her.  
Always, he meant to tell her how he really felt, but he hoped she would see for himself, through his actions.

"RORY, COME ON!" Rory was snapped from his thoughts. The Doctor was yelling, beckoning him to come quickly. The Time Lord wanted them all to hide in a room, from whatever was going to 'feast' on them. Rory could not see the point though. Would they not be trapped? They needed a way out. He thought he had found an exit. It had quickly merged into a hotel door though. He thought he should tell The Doctor what had just happened. "There was a.." he started, but The Doctor was just yelling louder, getting more urgent. Quickly, he ran towards The Doctor and the room he had chosen for them to hide in. They could get to safety and then he would tell him.

If he feared anything, it was losing Amy. He had gotten through any thought of rejection. Amy and he were married now. There were times, when he had been jealous, of The Doctor, of Jeff. He thought himself not spectacular enough for Amy, but would prove himself any way, by sticking by her, always.  
And then, it was his chance, he had shot her. As a plastic Roman, he could not have stopped it. The Doctor saved her, as he does, her 'knight in shining armour - well, bowtie. The Time Lord did not have any patience though. Amy was on death's door and he just wanting to skip through to when everything would be okay.  
From what Rory had learned, relationships do not work like that. You have got to be there for that person, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, until death do you part. The Doctor could never offer Amy that. He could never give her the fairy-tale life she had dreamt of as a child.  
That is why he, Rory, was the one who waited and protected Amy for two thousand years and married her. His wife was Amelia Pond. It was all he had ever wanted and he was not afraid, not of anything.  
Bravery was one thing and maybe Rory did not possess any. If he never truly feared something, did he need to be brave? Maybe, he could just be strong instead. Strength was something he knew he had. So, he cannot lift weights, but he had emotional strength. He was not hard-hearted, but he did not let his emotions get out of control. He was Amy's rock.

* * *

Joe had been killed and Howie was the next to go. Howie's framed photograph hung on the wall along with the rest of the Minotaur's victims. The boy was smiling, looking happy and at peace.

The Doctor was gazing at the picture, when Rory wandered through the corridor towards him. Both men acknowledged each other by raising their eyebrows, even though this was hard for The Doctor to do in this particular incarnation.  
With a puzzled expression on his face, The Doctor looked upon his companion. Rory had opened his mouth and was about to speak, but The Doctor intruded,  
"Have you found your room yet?" he queried.  
"No, no", Rory assured him, and joined in on inspecting the pictures, before furrowing his eyebrows into a frown. Having a room, meant he had something to fear. Should he be scared though? You only show bravery, by facing your fears. If he had no fear, could he have bravery, or could he be strong? His head snapped around to look at the Time Lord. Suddenly serious, he asked "Is that good or bad?"  
The Doctor thought on this for a moment, leaving Rory to wait and blink.  
"Maybe you're not scared of anything", he then suggested, while rocking on the balls of his feet. Raising his eyebrows once again and rolling his eyes, Rory shrugged. Then, after an intake of breath he thought aloud, "Well, after all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS, what was there left to be scared of?"

Rory looked back at the victims, pictured on the wall. He decided The Doctor did not need to know about his struggles growing up. It was not interesting to a Time Lord, who was hundreds of years old. Rory was not even sure he could recall a time, when The Doctor had ever asked him about his past. Giving Rory a double take, The Doctor surprisingly accused,  
"You said that in the past tense."  
"No, I didn't", replied Rory quickly, with an expression of both annoyance and confusion. If The Doctor suspected anything was on Rory's mind, he did not let on.

When The Doctor figured out that the creature was a Minotaur that fed on faith, he told Rory that it did not want him. Every time one of them was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith. What was Rory faithful in? He was not religious, or superstitious. He never had a mentor or someone he looked up to. There were times when he wanted to be more like The Doctor, Amy's imaginary friend. But actually meeting him was different. The Doctor has no idea just how dangerous he makes people to themselves. If there was anyone Rory wanted to be like, it was himself. He had got himself through school and achieved his goal of becoming a nurse. He had stood by Amy's side, all her life and finally married her. He had pride in himself. He could get himself out of a tight situation. He had never really depended on anybody. He was independent and self-sufficient. He just liked to have someone with him, to have and to hold.

**THE END**


End file.
